Coffee dumped on car and nasty note left behind after woman legally parks car on her Denver street

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DENVER -- Parking spots can be hard to come by as Denver grows but is it really bad enough to dump coffee on your neighbor's car and leave a nasty note?

Madeleine Schmidt parks her car on the street in West Wash Park, and when she got in her car the other morning she saw a note on the windshield. She also realized someone spilled coffee all over her car and that it appeared to be intentional.

"I just think it’s easier to be kind to your neighbors than to do something like write a rude note on their car," said Schmidt.

The note revealed that her neighbor was upset because she parked in front of his home. Schmidt says she tries to park in front of her home but sometimes a spot isn't available.

"Denver is growing as a city and we know that parking is becoming a premium," said Heather Burke, a spokesperson for Denver's Department of Public Works.

Burke said they've received complaints about people who block off the parking spots in front of their home or try to paint the curb to discourage people from parking there. Ultimately, if it's a public street, she says anyone has the right to park there.

Not everyone sees a parking shortage; some people actually believe there's too much parking in Denver.

"It’s not that Denver doesn't have parking, it’s that Denver doesn't have the parking that people want at that moment as they’re driving around the block," said John Riecke, a contributor for the Denver Urbanism blog.

Riecke says the city could stand to get rid of some parking because there's little benefit.

"Empty parking lots don’t generate taxes, buildings with people in them do. Buildings with businesses and housing generate taxes," said Riecke.

There's no question it can be difficult to park in certain neighborhoods like Capitol Hill. An employee with Sexy Pizza, Bill Bunting, says he hears about those parking woes from customers.

"It’s not too bad during the afternoons but I’ve lived in Cap Hill for a while and after 6 o’clock, if you don’t have your own parking spot you’re pretty much lucky to get within a couple blocks of your house," said Bunting.

When it comes to parking, Schmidt has some advice as she looks at her car windshield where that nasty note was left behind.

"It’s not that big of a deal and there are worse problems in the world to deal with rather than having to park half a block away from your house, rather than right in front of it," said Schmidt.

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